


As Normal As It Gets (How You Choose to Care)

by story_telling_sage



Category: Carry On - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-07
Updated: 2017-12-07
Packaged: 2019-02-11 15:37:18
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 730
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12938355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/story_telling_sage/pseuds/story_telling_sage
Summary: Agatha didn't care about magic, and neither did Minty. They cared about each other.





	As Normal As It Gets (How You Choose to Care)

"Maybe I'll go over to Minty's house," Agatha had said, when everything was burning down around her. Agatha wasn't good at emergencies and it didn't help that that was all her life seemed to be. Simon Snow and his goddamn show, his meltdown, his end. Agatha knew it wasn't her fault, but by Morgana and Merlin, it was hard to think about that when she was nearly getting killed. Agatha had thought, for a fleeting moment, that maybe Minty's house wouldn't be far enough away from this mess, but Minty's house was the only place she wanted to be.

Agatha wanted to do mani-pedis with her gel machine and drink virgin mojitos. She wanted to watch Normal movies and not think about what words could be turned magic on her lips. She wanted to eat popcorn and fall asleep in a pile of blankets, and she wanted Normal. Agatha wanted a life, she wanted to _live_. She had never thought that would be too much to ask for before. 

In the end, she told Minty everything that she could. About her headmaster being a deranged lunatic and trying to kill her, about watching Ebb die, about Simon, and Simon, and Simon. She told Minty everything over virgin mojitos and mani-pedis and cried so hard that all the paint smeared. She told Minty about Baz, about all the feelings she had kept bottled up, about the pressure of being everything golden and glittering all the time. She told Minty about everything but the magic, but even if she did tell her, Agatha thought it would be okay. 

 

Minty didn't care about magic. Minty cared about her. 

\--

Minty worried. Her best friend was looking worn and ragged as the years went by. When she visited over the holidays, when they spent all their nights together cuddling under the covers and watching movies they've already seen, she didn't talk about school. Agatha never talked about school except in passing. It was some posh, religious place her parents went to. Family tradition, Agatha had said, when she talked about how much she hated it. 

"They're just so stupid, all the time," Agatha had told her, and Minty had felt validated. 

"If they can't appreciate the cinematic masterpiece that is High School Musical, I'd say they're very stupid."

They were twelve at the time and still growing. Agatha was growing fuller, more beautiful, more tired. Minty was growing taller, brighter, more confused. More in love. Minty thought about Agatha, so far away, and thought about falling. They rode horses together, when they were younger. Agatha was there the first time Minty fell. Agatha was the one falling now, and Minty was right here to catch her. 

Crazy men, religious fanatics, and murder. A boyfriend that she didn't love, that she never even talked about, fears of being broken. 

"Let's run away," Minty had said, and she meant it.

\--

They ran. Together. After Agatha convinced her parents and Minty got in contact with her eccentric aunt who lived in California. They packed their bags, held each other's hands, and left. Agatha still had nightmares, still woke up shaking. Minty took their dog, Lucy, on a walk every morning and tried to understand. They shared a small apartment and started applying to universities together. 

When Agatha packed her bag she had brought her collection of rom-com movies, her favorite polishes, and the photo of Lucy and the Mage. She left her wand at home. 

Agatha didn't care about magic. She had tried and it had nearly gotten her killed too many times to count. She didn't care about boys. She had tried to and it had just broken her heart. Agatha cared about living. About taco trucks and trips to the beach, about mani-pedis with her best friend who was so much more. Minty didn't care about magic either. She didn't even like fantasy books. But she loved Agatha. By Merlin and Morgana, did she care about Agatha.

They say love is magic, but it was as normal as anything got for Agatha. Simon had seen Agatha as his salvation, his happy ending. Minty wasn't anything like that. She was just a girl, a girl who loved. Agatha was just a girl, a girl who cared.

Neither of them cared about magic, but they both cared about each other, and that's all that mattered in the end. 


End file.
